Cervical Spinal Injury

Published on: April 9, 2012

Joanne Pavia was a party to two vehicle accidents in the span of four months

by Stephen Bilkis

Joanne Pavia was a party to two vehicle accidents in the span of four months. The first one was at on North Conduit Avenue, about three hundred feet east of Cohancy Street. Paul Artale was going west on Conduit Avenue. He said that the traffic was slow moving. He noticed Eugene Joseph’s car when he was about ten feet behind it. In his testimony, he said that Mr. Joseph’s vehicle was stopped when he first saw it. A Lawyer got information that the front of Mr. Artale’s car hit the rear of Mr. Joseph’s vehicle. At face, there is already negligence on Mr. Artale’s part. Mr. Joseph in his defense against the negligence presented evidence that he had safely brought his vehicle to a stop before the crash occurred. He said that he was pushed to the vehicle in front of him when another vehicle hit the rear of his car. The car in front was Ms. Pavia’s. This happened on April 30, 2004.

The second incident happened on August 29, 2004. She was travelling to the east on Merrick Road in Massapequa. She said that Josephine Giardina while driving Anthony Giardina’s vehicle suddenly drove out of Cedar Shore Drive from her right and was in front of her.

Mr. Joseph filed a motion for summary judgment against his liability on the car accident involving Ms. Pavia and Mr. Artale. A source says that when a party moves for a summary judgment, the burden of proving there is already sufficient evidence to show that there are no material issues still remaining. In his motion, he relied heavily on the statement of Mr. Artale in his deposition. Mr. Artale said that Mr. Joseph’s vehicle was stopped when he first saw it. Ms. Pavia’s only opposition to the summary judgment is that she was not able to clearly explain that she had felt two impacts but there was only one hit to her car. They were saying that she was not asked this in the deposition. This contradicts what she had written in her sworn affidavit. The court then ruled in favor of Mr. Joseph and dismissed the complaint against him.

Published on: April 3, 2012

A motion for rehearing was petitioned by Daniel Schmidt with the Court of Appeals

by Stephen Bilkis

A motion for rehearing was petitioned by Daniel Schmidt with the Court of Appeals. This is with the personal injury case filed by Charles Van and his wife Rilla Van against Mr. Schmidt. According to sources, the Vans were claiming that the jury verdict should not be upheld by the court as the jury’s conclusion was against the weight of the evidence. A retrial was granted by the Circuit Court in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Van.

The Vans were looking to get compensation for personal injuries they had allegedly sustained from a vehicle accident in October 2007. They said that because of the accident, Mr. Van had to undergo a cervical spinal fusion surgery in September 2009. Mr. Schmidt is not disputing his liability in the 2007 accident. He is contesting that the injury was not caused by the accident. He is said the accident was minor and would not have had Mr. Van require a medical treatment. He also pointed out to the court Mr. Van’s prior medical records, said a doctor. Mr. Van already had a cervical spinal fusion surgery done in 1991. There was also the 1998 car accident that he was involved in and the diagnoses of emphysema and spinal degenerative disease. In the trial for compensation, there were three medical expert witnesses, including one from the defense, all of whom said that the surgery was caused in part by the 2007 accident. The reason given by the Vans why they require a rehearing was that some of the statements were not taken into consideration.

In determining if a rehearing should be granted, the court must look if the evidence presented does not support the decision and if the decision is based on the wrong interpretation of the law. A Lawyer says, in jury trials, the jury has the right to choose which statements they would want to accept. This is not limited to lay witnesses, but also with expert witnesses. In the case, they relied on the evidence that showed that the vehicle was a minor fender bender. Even if Mr. Vans testified that the repair cost $800, he also stated that the vehicle is still unrepaired and being used by his wife. There were photographs of the damage to the vehicle and the medical history of Mr. Vans.

Published on: March 10, 2012

Most car collisions that cause injuries happen unintentionally

by Stephen Bilkis

Most car collisions that cause injuries happen unintentionally. Insurance policies provide people with buffer from incidental economic costs that may arise from these car collisions and injuries. Insurance providers require that car collisions be accidental. Any deliberate incident that caused cervical spinal injuries to other people is not considered covered under insurance policies.

Sometimes, though, other people may use these incidents as excuses to benefit from insurance claims. Having said that, when people stage incidents and make them look like they happened intentionally, then these deliberate incidents fall outside the “no-fault” policy of insurance companies and these people who staged the incident will not be entitled to insurance claims. Not surprisingly, as noted by our , accidents or car collisions that are not covered by insurance are mostly staged to obtain insurance claims fraudulently.

This case is about a staged incident that happened on May 2001; the Plaintiffs were involved in a car collision in a 1985 Nissan, owned and insured by Victor Herasme. He claimed that he always lent his car to acquaintances and friends. Moreover, he also stated that he has been involved in an accident using the car in January 2001 and just prior to the accident on May 2001. According to Herasme, Carlos Gaviria borrowed the car and when he returned the vehicle, there was a small scratch. When he asked Gaviria about the scratch, he quickly dismissed it and said that a car had scraped it but no additional details were given. Herasme also stated that they were casual acquaintances and knows Gaviria as “Carlos” and Gaviria knows him as “Victor”. When the Defendant questioned Gaviria under oath, he denied ever knowing Victor Herasme and stated that he borrowed the car from “Jose”.

Published on: March 5, 2012

Experts agreed with the colonel’s assessment – this was an alarming statistic.

by Stephen Bilkis

The Army ran with only a rough estimate of how much their foot soldiers carried in combat, doctors and hospitals concerned with this problem have learned. It wasn’t until 2003 that a colonel and military-equipment expert formed a seven-man team to study the effects of the weight soldiers carried while in the combat zones of eastern Afghanistan.

“What we were proposing was highly irregular, and my chain of command had to pass this all the way to the generals to get approved,” he told a group of interested citizens.

The colonel, now retired, had his team join a group of soldiers, so they would carry the same loads and face the same dangers from day to day. They went to Afghanistan, where they went on missions with the soldiers. This would usually start with a helicopter ride, followed by foot patrols that would extend for days at a time. The members of the research team would use a digital scale to weigh all the equipment, down to their ID cards and eating utensils.

Published on: January 23, 2012

Blue Food Dye May Hold Spine Recovery Secrets says a Rochester School

by Stephen Bilkis

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have made an amazing discovery. The blue food dye known as Brilliant Blue G, or BBG, responsible for blue M&Ms and blue Gatorade alike, may actually reduce spinal injury damage.

This is a breath of new hope for those who have suffered spinal injuries. The effects of something so simple as blue food dye may one day provide those who are currently wheelchair-bound to stand again.

The University of Rochester Medical Center researchers and hospitals in Nassau and Suffolk injected the dye into rats suffering spinal cord injuries – and the rats regained the ability to walk, though they did so with a limp, according to reports. It also had another side-effect; it turned the rats blue, at least temporarily.

Published on: December 28, 2011

A U.S. Army Science Board study from 2001 recommended that soldiers should carry no more than 50 pounds for any length of time

by Stephen Bilkis

A U.S. Army Science Board study from 2001 recommended that soldiers should carry no more than 50 pounds for any length of time. The Army chief of staff agreed, and hoped to reach that goal by 2010. Unfortunately, studies have learned that soldiers carry much more than that, even today.

The simple weight that all soldiers must carry is leading to a number of musculoskeletal injuries that erodes the readiness of the military. The wars will someday come to an end, but these spinal injuries could remain for a lifetime and cost a great deal of money and time to treat, according to doctors.

A study by a John Hopkins University and two others in Manhattan and Long Island researched revealed that nearly a third of all medical evacuations from Iraq and Afghanistan from 2004 to 2007 were due to musculoskeletal, connective-tissue, or spinal injuries. Experts estimate that is around double the number of evacuations from combat injuries. The number of soldiers who were retired from the Army due to musculoskeletal conditions increased almost ten times from 2003 to 2009.

Published on: December 15, 2011

Football player with spinal cord injuries returns to playing

by Stephen Bilkis

While spinal cord injuries can be devastating and often life-altering, some people have managed to come back from being injured to continue on with their lives. This particular football player did and isn’t shy about telling others about his experiences. He sustained a spinal bruise last year and swore that no matter what, he would get back on the field, said the observer. He lived up to that promise to himself and is now lifting weights and running.

At the age of 33 years, many classify that as too old to be playing the brutal game of football, but that did not stop this man. Others thought it was time he packed it in. He figured otherwise and proved everyone wrong. Spinal bruising or cervical injury are serious injuries and if a player continues to play, he runs the very real risk of sustaining an even worse injury, explained the doctor. Fortunately, this footballer’s spinal cord healed well, and surgery was not necessary.

Not everyone is that fortunate. Those who have suffered a severe spinal cord injury, as the result of an accident caused by someone else’s negligence, may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit seeking compensation, suggested the expert in the field.

Published on: October 1, 2011

Teen wrestler doesn’t want spinal cord surgery, reports a New York Spinal Injury Lawyer

by Stephen Bilkis

This is an interesting case, in that the young man, a teenage wrestler, bruised his spine while playing his sport. A court now wants to mandate that the boy have spinal surgery for cervical spine injury, reported the New York Spinal Injury Lawyer. His parents, and the boy, are saying they don’t want or need the surgery and they have a video tape to prove he is capable of moving quite well.

The reason the court feels it should mandate the surgery is that the boy’s parents refused the spinal operation for their son. That prompted officials in their county to take custody of the boy. Why? They stepped in and started acting like the boy’s natural parents, because the family is firm in their belief of the benefits of natural healing and herbal remedies. They feel that spinal surgery could cause their son more harm.

The mother took a video of her son in his hospital bed, which shows quite clearly that he has the ability to move all of his limbs separately, and has a decent range of motion. He appears to have full movement and the family doesn’t think he needs unnecessary surgery, which may cause paralysis. The boy himself also states he doesn’t want the operation.

Published on: September 27, 2011

Quick Stop on Bus Lands Man With Spinal Injury

by Stephen Bilkis

Something as simple as a bus ride changed a 49-year-old man’s life forever and New York Spinal Injury Lawyers were there to help him.

The plaintiff boarded the bus and while looking for a seat, the vehicle came to a sudden stop, throwing him 20 feet across the bus. He landed on the floor on his right hip, shoulder, and back. Though he was released from the hospital on the same day, the effects of his injuries still linger. He was moved from his job as a cardio-pulmonary technician to a desk job. It took months of physical therapy to discover he had a herniated cervical disc. Two more years of physical therapy did not relieve the pain in his neck, and eventually a ruptured disc had to be surgically removed from his neck. Hospitals in New York City and Queen have similar treatments for this kind of injury.

The defendants in the trial, four years after the accident, had a number of counterarguments, but New York City Spinal Injury Lawyers were there to counter them all. In the end, he was awarded $450,000 for past pain and suffering and $300,000 for future pain and suffering. The Transit Authority appealed, but if it comes to another trial, Lawyers will stay in the fight to the very end.

Published on: August 27, 2011

Spinal surgery is an open procedure, using general anesthesia

by Stephen Bilkis

In the instances where there are broken bones in the spine, but no sign of neurologic difficulty, nonsurgical treatment can be appropriate. Compression fractures, in which the front or the side of the vertebrae is cracked, or some burst fractures, where a whole vertebra is cracked, are candidates for nonsurgical treatment, New York Spinal Injury Lawyers have learned. cervical spine injuries are not the same and doctors in New York City and Long Island treat this condition much differently. Nonsurgical treatment involves wearing a cast or a brace for 4 to 6 weeks. This period may be longer for individuals who have more severe injuries, or patients who have osteoporosis. It is not uncommon for physicians to recommend 1 to 3 weeks of bed rest.

Patients who have unstable fractures of the spine, where bones have been shattered, and the spinal cold stretched or pierced, often undergo surgical treatment. These procedures generally are used to realign the spine, stabilize the spine, and prevent (or even improve) any neurologic dysfunction. The actual treatment varies depending upon the severity of the injury on the spine and the spinal cord, as well as the general health of the patient, the patient’s age, and the personal discretion of the surgeon.

Spinal surgery is an open procedure, using general anesthesia, according to NY Spinal Injury Lawyers. These all require fusion of vertebrae to each other through metal plates, rods, wires, and/or screws to stabilize the spin. After the surgery is finished, a brace of some kind is used, as per nonsurgical treatment. There may also be the need for painkilling drugs after the surgery, which the doctor will prescribe.